Instant messaging is used more and more in online dating, business communications, social networking, and various other forums. Users of instant messaging often have two, three, or more independent conversations simultaneously, in fact, in online dating it is not uncommon for user to have four or more simultaneous instant messaging conversations. Each instant messaging conversation has a dedicated pane on the user's computer screen. While a user is focused on one conversation pane, they receive instant messages in the other conversation panes. The user is notified of these other instant messages by a flashing icon at the bottom of their computer screen or sometimes by a transitory pop-up in the corner of their computer screen. These transitory notifications let the user know that they have received a new instant message and may provide a snippet of the received instant message. Users must divert their attention from the conversation pane they are currently focused on and check the other conversation panes to read the new instant messages. This checking of conversation panes is a diversion and reduces the user's ability to hold multiple independent conversations.
Some instant messaging applications use horizontal ticker panes to display instant messages. Ticker panes repeat instant messages periodically to increase the chance that a user will see the notification, but unless the user is looking at the ticker pane when a particular instant message goes by, they will miss it. Another drawback with ticker panes is that because they repeat instant messages periodically, old instant messages are sometimes displayed next to new instant messages. This lack of time order, in instant message display, makes review of previous instant messages difficult. Also, user scrolling of the horizontal ticker pane for instant message review is an unnatural user interface action and therefore it is uncomfortable for users to review instant messages in a horizontal ticker pane.
What is needed is a system and method that integrates instant messages from different conversations into a single multi-conversation sequence of instant messages and then displays the multi-conversation sequence of instant messages in a user friendly, one above the other format. Accordingly, the screen area required to monitor many instant messaging conversations is substantially reduced. Further, presence notifications can also be integrated into the multi-conversation sequence of instant messages. Still further, the system and methods can facilitate easy focus switching from a multi-conversation sequence of instant messages to a single conversation sequence of instant messages.